Speeches she held in her sleep
by OrangeLovePerson
Summary: Fluffy one-shot collection, small missing moments set somewhere between season 3 and 6. "Benslie" all the way, likely to be continued. Enjoy! :)
1. Chapter 1

_A.N.: Hey guys! Here comes a tiny one-shot collection about Pawnee's loveliest goofball couple. :)_

 _There's been a few mentionings about Leslie talking in her sleep on the show, as you probably noticed, and I just like the idea of that very much._

 _I hope you enjoy and leave me a few comments, and I'm sorry for all potential writing errors or other slips of that sort. Bye! xx_

* * *

Leslie's eyelids were fluttering again. The lights were dimmed but still bright enough to read, and yet his book had become less and less interesting over the past few minutes, causing Ben to look at her instead.

He sat there and watched her sleep over the rim of his book, his mouth quickly forming into a wide smile, right before she started talking.

"...s'is no longer a matter of time, dear Minister. I say we ought to stick with the truth here.", she said, quietly, expression earnest. Whatever issue she was talking about, it surely was important, Ben thought to himself. She then mumbled something incoherent about "children being this country's future" and about "the importance of having fun", and Ben quickly assumed that she was dreaming about building yet another park with yet another playground in it, and possibly half a dozen water slides at that, too. Leslie's dreams were predominantly set in a world where she was powerful enough to do exactly what she wanted, and what she wanted was always along the lines of creating an incredible community, or something... He loved the way she dreamt.

"No, please don't stand up, gentlemen, I assure you that the president doesn't require such measures.", Leslie then said, in a slightly deeper voice, and Ben knew that she was trying to impersonate someone else speaking... He chuckled at the thought and rested his elbow on the bed's headboard.

"She's _way_ to cool for that.", the guy Leslie was impersonating then added, and Ben let out such a loud laugh that he was worried to have woken her up, a second later, but Leslie was still fast asleep and in the middle of her political dream.

"But I am asking you," Leslie mumbled, using her normal voice again, "is it worth it? Is the price we are paying for this – the loss of a beautiful old building like this monument; filled with all its history and mesmerizing architecture – worth something as small as one kid's chance to create their own buildings, one day? Their restaurants, their companies, their book stores or laboratories? Is it a good idea to tear this old house down in order to put a centre for job orientation in its place, an institution that might help or inspire hundreds of young people to find their calling in life?"

Ben put his book aside to lay more comfortably next to her, his elbow resting on their pillow, eyes focused on her sleeping features. After a long dramatic pause, Leslie continued with her speech.

"Yes.", she said. "Yes, our children's future is what matters most, and therefore we should surely let the wrecking ball advance... Unless,- and this is something that came to my attention only recently,- _unless_ the job orientation centre we've been promised by our Governor Malroy here was never meant to be build in the first place! _Unless_ this whole time we've been talking about a property that is merely about to get sold to the highest offerer soon enough, in this case meaning the Blue West Bank."

"Ooh, plot twist!", Ben quietly commented, grinning.

At his voice, her body turned slightly towards him, until she was resting on her side and facing him. And her features seemed... calmer, as if there was a happy ending ahead in her dream...

"Therefore, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is our duty not to tolerate this case of venality, and the building in question shall remain as it is today, as the charming "Waffle Museum" we know and love."

"M-hm, obviously.", Ben replied with a smile, and gently he reached for that one strand of hair that covered her cheek, slipping it behind her ear instead. And maybe it was just her "Waffle museum"-dream that made Leslie look so happy, right then,- breathing out a soft sigh.

But Ben could have sworn that she was shimmying closer towards him, too.


	2. Chapter 2

The lights were out when he came "home".

Of course they were, he reminded himself, and was shortly puzzled by how much the view surprised him, still. During Leslie's campaign, they'd basically shared a bed 90% of the time, rather more. But now, in Washington, the empty flat that was so alike to the many hotels he'd seen over the years, failed to give him any real sort of comfort, or even rest at times.

He wondered when he'd become so picky; when it had become difficult to call random places that offered him a bed and a shower " _home"_ for a little while, but of course he knew and of course he didn't really mind that he cared, either.

A part of him was perfectly able to function, after all. A huge part of him was excited to work here, in this unique historical city. And to be given the chances and attention he received; to have a job that he deserved and truly found interesting. It payed well, too, which was a nice extra.

But then there were the turned out lights and the quiet that greeted him after a long day, and then there was that efficiently empty bedroom with no boxes of books or stacked old newspapers covering the floor. And there was no almost-empty bottle of whipped cream in his fridge, no gummy bears were hidden in his nightstand, no framed photo of Angela Lansbury or Margaret Thatcher stuck to the inside of his wardrobe. And _she_ wasn't here. She so, so obviously wasn't here.

Except that she was. Well, sort of.

"Surprise!", she squealed, out of his laptop screen, and he jumped a little in shock.

"Uahh! Gosh, Leslie, you scared the hell out of me!", he exclaimed, staring at the brightly lit corner of his living room, where the computer rested on the counter.

"Oh, really? Sorry for that! But why is it so dark in your flat, anyway?"

"Well, I just came here, and I'm not leaving the lights on when I go to work..."

"Yeah, fair enough, but why don't you have a night light, Ben?"

"A what?"

"A night light! You know, one of those thingies that you put into a plug socket in order to...-"

"Leslie, I know what a night light is, I just don't really believe that a grown man would need one."

"Well, apparently you do, at least then you might have been a little less anxious when you just came in here." She giggled. "Night lights are just so relaxing."

He snorted and finally gave up his position in the door way, choosing instead to close the door and press the headlamp switch before pulling off his jacket. Leslie gasped a little, perhaps fakely, and he raised his eyebrows at her when the lights flickered on.

"What?", he laughed.

"Oh, nothing. Just sort of forgot how handsome you are for a few minutes."

He rolled his eyes at her, not quite managing to stop himself from blushing. Well, or at least he felt like he was blushing. He couldn't be too sure without a mirror.

Ben sat in front of his laptop screen and smiled yet again at her. "Hi.", he said.

She smiled back. "Hi."

"So", he scratched his cheek, thinking, "How come you are here? I mean, how did you turn on my laptop from all the way over there in Pawnee?"

"Would you believe me if I told you that I have a really cool new type of remote control?", she asked.

"Not really.."

"Magic?"

"Leslie."

"Haha. Okay, April helped me. Sweet move of you, to give her that second key to your flat, by the way!"

"Yes, I think we are getting closer. I kind of see why Ann has tried so hard to become friends with her for years, she's really nice when you look past all the scariness..."

"I know, right? I'm really glad you two get along, she needs someone who believes in her."

Ben smiled. "So, how are things going in Pawnee?"

Leslie sighed. "Oh, well, I guess it could be worse... There's been only four more dead raccoons in the river, that wasn't too bad to clean up... JJ's waffles were really good today, but that's always true, so..."

He wrinkled his forehead. "Leslie, what's wrong?"

He could see her bite her lip and shake her head silently, looking worried. Then she met his eyes again. "I just...I just feel like my petition against the close-down on Sullivan Street really won't work. It's such a nice art gallery, Ben, it's basically one of the last big cultural achievements of this city, and yet...-"

"What do you mean, it won't work? I thought most of the high school teachers and all these neighbours were on your side already?"

Leslie explained to him how the mayor's last speech might have influenced a few people badly, which he admitted to be very likely... It took about fifteen minutes of shared brainstorming and to-do-list writing to get her back into an optimistic mood, but when it came it was, as usual, very optimistic.

Ben told her about his colleague's weird new beard, and about the jam doughnuts his boss Jan secretly hated. Leslie also thought that having an extreme dislike for raspberry jam while loving strawberry jam was sort of a strange phenomenon.

"Are you sure you saw her spit it out because she didn't like the jam? She could have just had a fly in her mouth, or something." But Ben was almost entirely certain that that couldn't have been the case, so he would make sure to look for doughnuts with blueberry jam next time, just to see Jan's reaction to _that_.

Leslie stayed online while he cooked dinner, heating up some casserole herself in the meantime, and then they both decided to do some more paperwork after eating, all the while staying in connection.

It was nice to work next to Leslie, mainly because she was so focused on her own tasks and pretty unaware of his occasional glances. And he loved those glances, those small instants of normalcy that he got to see her in, despite the distance. When Leslie became all quiet and productive sometimes, he almost felt like they were really living together again... He got to see all different sorts of moods and feelings on her.

He really wished it wouldn't have to be through a computer screen. But they'd get there, eventually.

At one point, Leslie yawned.

"Tired?", he asked, his voice warm and quiet, and almost raspy from lack of use.

"M-hm.", she nodded. "I think I should head off to bed. I have to plant a new plum tree in the community garden tomorrow morning. The last one got stolen by a plum addict, we were told."

"That seems...likely. So when are you going to stand up then tomorrow?"

Leslie looked at her watch. "In about four hours."

"Oh, obviously."

"I could leave the laptop on again, if you want me too."

Ben smiled and nodded. "Yes, please."

* * *

A few minutes later, she was back, wearing her favourite pyjama. The purple one. She wordlessly carried her laptop into her bedroom, put it down on the night stand, and eyed Ben questioningly. "So, here we are... Are you seriously going to watch me sleep again?"

Ben smirked, his eyes twinkling. "That was the plan. I'm going to bed soon, too, anyway. Just didn't want to miss the show when I have the chance."

" _The show_ is going to be very focused on plum tree planting and raccoon burials tonight, I assume.", she warned him.

He laughed. "Well, we'll see."

Leslie shrugged. "Okay, whatever."

Before she turned the lights off, she looked at him once more, light blond hair cascading around her face in the dimmed yellow light. "Hey Ben, I really love you.", she told him, voice all soft and quiet.

"I really love you, too, Leslie.", he answered, hoarsely. Laptop screens really weren't enough at all, sometimes.

Her room went dark, but not completely, and despite the light her computer must have offered, the light from _his_ room, there was a tiny bunch of brightness also coming from the corner next to her door. Her eyes blinked open one more time, and she was grinning.

"See? Everyone should have a night light, Ben. Makes it so much more relaxing!"

Leslie really held a speech about raccoon problems and successfully growing plum trees that night. Even this sounded kind of incredible when she did.

And maybe it was her night light's glow, or the soft ringing of her voice between his flat's walls when she talked about the overuse of raccoon poisoning in Eagleton, but tonight Ben fell asleep in a room that almost felt like home.


	3. Chapter 3

„There's a huge lack of elbowroom in this school's budget, principal, and that is something we should work on.", Leslie began, and Ben curiously opened his eyes to look at her.

He'd been half asleep already,- more than half-asleep, _three-quarters asleep_ , at least, if he was being honest. But her voice was so near and sweet and tomorrow was Saturday, anyway... The lights were still burning, too.

"It is important to be prepared for emergencies, don't you think? Like the thunderstorm last month, the one that utterly destroyed the primary school's herb garden... Wouldn't it be nice if there were immediate aids for such situations? And I'm not talking here about the additional money that every school on this planet deserves, anyway, no matter the situation. I'm frankly talking about proper money management. I know it's hard to save in the position that you are in. I really do. That's why, from this day on, every school's principle in this city is faced with an amazing opportunity: Free extra accounting assistance."

"Hm.", Ben muttered, blinking at her in the half-dark. She seemed so happy to have found a solution for her imaginary problem... Sometimes she really was too cute to be true.

"Basically, it's very easy: By offering free bus – and museum tickets to several generous accountants in the area, my team and I managed to organize an entire unit of helpers for our local schools' budgets. I want you to take some time and talk to them occasionally, but mostly we're trying to get work off our hard-working teachers' and headmasters' backs with these measurements. So, what do you say?"

She was quiet then, for almost an entire minute.

Ben thought she might have drifted off into less active dreams, the sort of dreams that didn't require her talking... He was about to switch off the lights when he suddenly heard Leslie sobbing behind him.

Surprised and slightly frightened, he saw a tear wash down her cheek, her lips trembling and her expression desperate. "Leslie?", he murmured, reaching out for her, a hand on her shoulder.

"Leslie, dear, I think you're having a bad dream."

She wasn't waking up.

"Leslie?"

She kept crying, more and more tears rolling down her face. Her whole body shivered all of the sudden. Ben lowered himself next to her on the mattress, pulling her close. Her face was nestled against his shoulder, and as he started stroking her hair, her crying became audible, tiny sobs crashing against his chest and neck and hair.

"Shh. Leslie, it's okay. It's okay, love. You're just dreaming."

His arms were holding her tightly against him, and maybe it was the additional warmth, or his caring words, or just his mere presence, but something seemed to calm her down again. And when the silence had hung in their room for a few minutes, her own body seemed to wrap more securely around him, too, fingers slowly curling into his shirt, her nose and forehead pressed to his chest.

"Ben.", she murmured, ever so softly, and for a second he thought she might be awake. But her breathing remained slow and even, and maybe she was still fast asleep, after all.

"Thank you, Ben."

He kissed her hair, again and again, and then he switched the light off.


End file.
